Franco-German project: Fake News do not make History

New (digital) learning spaces for Franco-German remembrance work

Our societies experience a radical transformation of the media, from which populist and right wing parties profit to distort current events as well as historical facts. Through Fake News, hate speech or echo chambers, they especially use digital platforms to share conspiracy theories, discriminatory statements or to deny historical facts.

Places of remembrance and historical museums in France and Germany have a vast experience in using tools and contents for civic, historic and political education. The main goal is to convey a critical image of history and of national socialism in particular.
But what approaches can museums and remembrance sites use to be heard in this new world of media and to fight against dangerous populist reinterpretations of history? Which methods and concepts can be promising to identify and fight against discrimination and antisemitism on the internet? And how can these methods be applied in the pedagogical work of universities and museums in France, Germany and all over the world?

The answers to these questions are at the heart of our Franco-German project “Fake News do not make History”.

Franco-German study trip

The Maison d’Izieu co-organises, in cooperation with the Goethe Institute and the CIERA (Interdisciplinary Centre for Studies and Research about Germany) a Franco-German study trip: “Fake News do not make History” on the topics of “Fake News and historical revisionism”

From 23 to 27 October, 20 young mediators and students of history, social or political sciences will get the chance to discover sites of remembrance in Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Izieu and Lyon and to meet experts of historical-political education, History, media sciences and journalism from both countries.

The trip includes workshops and peer-coaching sessions organised around 3 themed modules:

“Module 1 – Understanding historical revisionism” with Richard Siegert

“Module 2 – Learning from media experts” with Benjamin Brillaud alias NotaBene and Hanna Klimpe

“Module 3 – Expanding the museum space” with Laurent Bigot.

After the study trip, the participants will develop a tool kit against Fake News, in paper and video format, which will be shared with all people interested in questions related to the topic.

The experts participating in the study trip are Solveig Hennebert, Richard Siegert, Benjamin Brillaud alias Nota Bene, Hanna Klimpe, Veerle Vanden Daelen and Laurent Bigot.

DOWNLOAD THE TOOL KIT

Day at the Maison d’Izieu

On Wednesday, 25 October 2023, the participants were at the Maison d’Izieu.

On the agenda were:

• Visit of the House and the exhibitions
• Exchange with Cassandra Babouri, mediator and co-organiser of the study trip for the Maison d’Izieu and with Dominique Vidaud, director of the Maison d’Izieu
• Presentation by Hanna Klimpe, Professor for social media at the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg (HAW Hamburg)
• Talk with NotaBene, History YouTuber

Online conferences

Two online conferences open for all were organised during the project:

Wednesday 18 october the first online conference was held on: « Historical revisionism in current political debates in Germany, France and Italy »

Thursday 26 october a second online conference was held on : « Facing the dangers of disinformation »

Partners

Goethe Institute Lyon et Marseille / CIERA Centre interdisciplinaire d’études et de recherches sur l’Allemagne / MUCEM / Camps des Miles / memorial-des-deportations / Gedenkstätte Bergen-Belsen / Denkort Bunker Valentin / Fondation pour la mémoire de la Shoah / OFAJ DFJW / Auswärtiges Amt